MEN’S BASKETBALL ‘mdash; The Tritons started 2009 with a split against California Collegiate Athletic Association opponents over the weekend, defeating Cal State Los Angeles on Jan. 2 by a 68-64 final score, before falling to Cal State Dominguez Hills, 63-51, on Jan. 3. The victory over CSULA was the fifth-straight win for the Tritons, including two over winter break against the Academy of Art University and Grand Canyon as part of the CCAA-PacWest Shootout in Las Vegas. UCSD’s record now stands at 6-4 overall and 3-1 in the CCAA.
While struggling offensively, the Tritons stayed close to CSUDH by playing tough defense, limiting the Toros to only seven first-half field goals and out-rebounding the squad 19-14 before the half. Junior guard Jordan Lawley gave the Tritons their largest lead of the first period just over five and a half minutes into the game with a three-pointer off a pass from sophomore guard Casey Ryan, putting UCSD up 10-4. With both teams going scoreless for over three minutes from the 11:46 mark and then over two minutes from 7:51, the Tritons were able to maintain a slim advantage for much of the half. The Toros captured their first lead of the game with 4:50 left following a layup. UCSD would respond with a jumper from freshman center Christian Hatch, his fourth field goal of the half, and a three-pointer from junior guard Tyler Acevedo.
‘Christian Hatch played pretty well,’ head coach Chris Carlson said. ‘I think any time you’re on the plus-side in rebounding, it’s a positive. I still think we could have done a better job there though.’ Toro player Rodney Yearby scored the last four points of the half with a layup and two free throws, leaving the Tritons down 20-19 at the break. UCSD recaptured the lead quickly in the second half, with a layup by senior forward Shane Poppen off an assist from senior center A.J. Maulhardt and a three-pointer by senior guard Kelvin Kim to give the Tritons a 24-22 advantage. CSUDH responded with a triple of its own to regain the lead. While the Tritons again maintained their rebounding edge, the team would fall behind by double-digits with 13:30 left to play.
Climbing to within five points down the stretch, UCSD’s season-high 18 turnovers, compared to only eight total turnovers and three in the second half for CSUDH, prevented the Tritons from continuing their first winning streak of the season. Despite eight points from Kim in the final 1:21 of the game, the Toros held the Tritons to their lowest scoring output against a Division-II opponent this season.
‘They’re a great team and they came out with a lot of intensity,’ Lawley said. ‘We just kind of whimpered down and didn’t really step up to their level and match their intensity. We’re going to be working a lot on our press and press situations. We felt like we kind of gave into their pressure.’
Kim’s 14 points were a game-high, as he added three assists, three rebounds and a block in a game-high 38 minutes of play. Lawley scored 11 points with four rebounds in the game, going 2-for-3 from a three-point range. Poppen grabbed a game-high seven rebounds, while Hatch finished with nine points and four rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench.
The Tritons and Golden Eagles of Cal State Los Angeles were locked in a close battle throughout the entire matchup Friday night. After CSULA opened up to a six-point advantage in the opening period, UCSD responded with a 10-3 run capped off by a layup and two free throws from returning redshirt senior forward Brett Stuckey. Stuckey, having missed all of last season and the start of this year due to injury, checked in with 11:37 to play. Less than 10 seconds later, the senior used a reverse layup off an assist from senior guard Alan Husted to score his first collegiate basket in over a year.
‘There were a lot of nerves pre-game,’ Stuckey said. ‘Once I started playing and made that first basket, I had a lot of support from the team ‘mdash; it was all good.’
Two three-pointers from Kim, one from Husted, and a layup from Ryan helped the Tritons extend to a nine-point advantage, their largest of the half, with 5:21 left to play. Limiting the Golden Eagles to 25 percent field-goal shooting and grabbing 27 rebounds compared to only eight for CSULA, the Tritons went into the break leading 29-21.
In the second half, it was the opposition that started quickly, as CSULA scored eight of the first 10 points to tie the game at 31. Following two Poppen free throws, CSULA took the lead and extended to a three-point advantage following a three-pointer and jumper from Golden Eagles forward Chris Fields. The lead changed four more times during the second half, as neither squad was able to extend to more than a five-point advantage.
With 3:21 remaining, Husted hit a three-pointer for the Tritons off of a Kim assist. Husted returned the favor during UCSD’s next drive down the court, assisting on Kim’s three that put the Tritons ahead by two points with just over two minutes left to play. During the Tritons’ next offensive possession, Kim went to the ground to protect a loose ball and appeared to have sustained a slight injury. Following a timeout, Kim was replaced by freshman guard Kirby Ruiz. Ruiz, playing in the biggest moments of his first season as a Triton, caught a tipped offensive rebound from Poppen and hit a shot clock-beating three-pointer to give the Tritons a five-point advantage. Following a retaliatory three from CSULA, Kim re-entered the game and scored a layup on the other end.
The two teams then traded free throws before another three-pointer from Chris Fields closed the gap to one point. Kim gave the Tritons some breathing room, making 1-of-2 from the charity stripe. Fields then stepped to the line for the Golden Eagles and missed both free-throw opportunities. Appropriately, it was the returning Stuckey who grabbed the defensive rebound, drew the foul and calmly hit both foul shots on the other end to seal the victory for UCSD.
‘Every night in this league is really, really difficult,’ Carlson said. ‘Any time you can beat a team with the caliber of Cal State L.A., you feel good about it. That was a very good win for us. It’s a marathon, not a sprint in this league. You’ve got to be tough over a long haul. I don’t think we’ve even come close to playing our best basketball. I think that’s still ahead of us.’
Even though they may not have reached their full potential yet, Lawley believes that the Tritons gave their full effort in the victory.
‘We wanted it more than them,’ he said. ‘We came out there on fire and wanted to make a statement to the league, especially since [CSULA] just beat [CSUDH] on Wednesday.’
As a team, the Tritons shot 44.2 percent from the field and recorded a 40-24 re
bounding advantage. Kim led the way offensively with 16 points and added three assists, while Poppen recorded his third consecutive double-double with 15 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Husted scored 11 points with a game-high five assists and three rebounds, while Stuckey scored 10 points with five rebounds.
‘It felt good to be back,’ Stuckey said of his return performance, which included going 3-for-4 from the field and 4-for-4 from the line. ‘I hope to be a little bit more of a scoring threat inside. All of our big guys can score, but I hope to be able to step out a little bit and spread the defense with 15-foot, 17-foot jumpers and hopefully, be a leader for all these guys. We’ve got a lot of young guys and I’ve got to try to be a good role model for them.’
Over the winter break, the Tritons cruised to two victories at the CCAA-PacWest Shootout in Las Vegas. UCSD trounced the Academy of Art University, 62-40, as Poppen scored 13 points with 11 rebounds and the Triton defense held Academy of Art to just 13 field goals and 25.5 percent shooting from the field. Defense again led the way in a 78-60 win over Grand Canyon, as the Tritons held the Antelopes below 30 percent shooting from the field in the second half to turn a close contest into an easy victory.
‘We know how to win,’ Lawley said. He currently leads the team in scoring with 13.2 points per game. ‘When we played Grand Canyon, the guys gave it their all. It showed us that we’re a capable team.’
All five starters scored in double figures, led by Husted’s season-high 19 points, 14 from Kim and Poppen, 13 from Lawley and 10 from Maulhardt. Maulhardt and Poppen also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds each, nearly matching the 27 rebounds Grand Canyon University grabbed as a team.
‘I thought we showed a lot of toughness, especially against a very good Grand Canyon team,’ Carlson said. ‘We were just a little tougher; we took care of the ball, got good shots, executed and did the things we needed to do to be successful.’
The Tritons return to action next weekend with their first road conference contests of the year. UCSD faces Cal State San Bernardino on Friday and Cal Poly Pomona on Saturday, with both games scheduled for 7:30 p.m. tip-offs.
Readers can contact Joe Tevelowitz at [email protected].